Why the Duchess of Cambridge hasn't boosted Whistles' sales

The Duchess of Cambridge wearing head-to-toe Whistles on an official tour of Canada Photo: REUTERS

It has long been reported that anything the Duchess of Cambridge touches turns to gold - in the fashion sense at least. British brands have been catapulted into the international limelight as retailers tell of the sell-out success of items sported by the glamorous, recent addition to the royal family.

"It raises profile, it's great, we get known in countries we're not known in" revealed Jane Shepherdson in an interview with
Business of Fashion
. "But it's not going to turn us into a success overnight because she wears it."

Shepherdson attributes this in part to the business model of the company: "The thing is that we don't do huge runs of anything. We might have sold out of it, but there might only have been 150 units," she explains.

Shepherdson, who is credited with transforming the creative direction of Topshop, her previous employer, admits that the £150 'Bella' dress the Duchess wore to the Olympics Closing Ceremony created the biggest impact. "It's a style that's been very successful for us anyway - a printed silk dress. That weekend, we sold out of it. Well, of what we had.

The Duchess of Cambridge in the blue 'Bella' dress at the Olympic Games Closing Ceremony. Photo: PA

We have a lot of customers who phone up and ask for it. And, to be fair, every time we have done that dress in a different print, it's sold out, but I couldn't say it lifted our total sales by 50 per cent that week, because it didn't."

However this week Whistles' trading statement revealed a cause for celebration: double digit sales growth in stores and "outstanding" growth online, as well as EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation) in the nine months to the end of October 2012 up by 34 per cent to £1.6m.

Shepherdson does admit that when the blouse Kate picked for her official engagement photographs turned out to be an old-season item by Whistles "we had a lot more people visiting our website." Said style was no longer available to buy, "So in that instance, it raised profile certainly, but it didn't do anything for sales." However let's not forget that the retailer reissued the blouse due to a urge in consumer interest some months later - and Miss Middleton herself was snapped picking up version number two in her local London branch.